Strasbourg, 23/05/2012 (Agence Europe) -European Commissioner for Neighbourhood Policy Stefan Füle pointed out to MEPs from the European Parliament's foreign affairs committee on Monday 21 May that cooperation between the EU and the Council of Europe on neighbourhood policy is of strategic interest to the EU. He also indicated that the work they carried out was of mutual benefit to both the EU and the Council of Europe. The commissioner said that he was eager to continue this close cooperation in the implementation of the European neighbourhood policy and asserted: “We will continue to draw on their knowledge, on their institutional scope and on their expertise to promote sustainable democracy in our neighbourhood.”
The commissioner said he was very grateful to the Council of Europe for the proactive role it played in Eastern neighbourhood countries and that he was delighted with its positive response to EU requests for expanding cooperation in the southern neighbourhood of the Mediterranean - “the progress we have jointly made is remarkable, in particular in the Southern Mediterranean. Initial ideas have been developed into a fully fledged cooperation framework, including concrete projects on the ground.” (CG/transl.fl)